Artificially Sweet
by Coco-Minu
Summary: The sweets would rot away his teeth, but she was a human. She could break his heart. Oneshot, LxMisa gift for thunder sister.


L x Misa gift / request sort of thing for **thunder sister **on here, or **shinoino** on deviant art. Whichever name you prefer. She has been waiting for this; I should am ashamed that I have kept her waiting for so long. It is a humungous thank you for the Sai and Ino fan art I apparently inspired with my Naruto fan fiction Kaiga Kanojono. But it is finally here, so please enjoy this because I am hoping I have not brutalised the characters too much.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note; it belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

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**Artificially Sweet**

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_**How to make a Misa-Misa: **_

_**Take one pretty girl, and add a lot of fun. Not to mention undeniably good acting skills, a nice voice and a stunning face and body. That was what some men said in Tokyo when we asked them, but when we asked the star herself for this interview she told us that there is far more than meets the eye…**_

His eyes scanned over the article. Try as he might, he could not hide the disgust from his usually vacant expression. She had not even meant to flaunt herself, she had not needed to. The media had done it for her. All it had taken was a pretty face, and they had been over her like ants being drawn to honey. But this article was fake, sickeningly fake. He usually liked things that were made to be artificially sweet, sugary and wonderful. Different to harsh realities.

But with her, it was different.

He disliked her artificial sweetness with a frightening intensity that sometimes worried him. She was so unlike sweets. Candy, if you will. She was sugary and appealing, but she was bad for him just as the sweets were. The sweets would rot away his teeth, but she was a human.

She was a human girl, no – she was nineteen. She was a human woman. He was a human boy, a human man infact. It only made sense that she could harm him, because women can break hearts. He knew that men could break hearts too though, because every time he sees her around Light he gets the feeling that she's smarter than she lets on. That she knows he doesn't love her, just as it is plain for him to see. But it did not seem like she wanted to admit it, not at all.

_Because everyone loves her, they just have to. She's Misa-Misa, right? _He's pretty sure that's how she thinks. That there is no possible chance that a man could turn down a woman like her. She's famous, who would? It would be stupid to do so, they would be mocked. They would never get the chance again. If it was anyone but Light, that was.

With Light, she's different. She would do anything for him, and that's what bothered him. That one word. Anything. Because anything could really mean anything, especially with the fact that there has been more than one Kira. Did she really love Light that much? Was she able to cover up the fact that she was a killer with artificial sweetness?

He decided he did not like the article Matsuda had left open on the table, that interview she had done. Although she had given answers that anyone would expect of her, they were all too sweet. Too fake, too covered up in sugar that you would never see the real her. He decided to make his own recipe for a Misa in his head at that moment.

_**How to make a Misa-Misa: **_

_**Take one pretty woman, add a man who she thinks she's in love with. It's one sided love of course though, because he's somebody worth fighting for like all famous people claim their loves to be. Add a blonde packet of hair dye, some overdone outfits, lack of proper nutrition and everything else that makes a model and add possible killer in with it.**_

_**Cover her in artificial sweeteners, just to make her all the more lifelike.**_

Chomping down on the bit of strawberry shortcake that was on the end of his fork, he chewed it for a moment before spitting it out on the plate next to the magazine. He liked sweet things, he had always liked them. Especially the artificial ones such as chocolate and lollipops. Especially cake. Strawberry shortcake had always been his favourite, too.

But right now, he was not so sure he liked artificially sweet things.

"Ryuzaki-san, you didn't like Misa-Misa's cake?" A large wail came, and his head shot straight up again. Standing up from where she had been crouching behind the sofa opposite was said woman, looking very much disheartened. His previous train of thought disappeared in mere seconds with the thought that she looked slightly insulted.

"No, Ryuzaki likes Misa-san's cake very much. It's just sweeter than he expected it to be." He replied in monotone, and she frowned when his attention once again diverted back to the magazine as he closed it, not wanting to look at the insufferable article any longer.

"Are you not going to ask Misa-Misa why she was making cake?" She asked, in her special voice. He knew it was the special one because she thought it was cute, that whining sound that reminded him of a child. Unfortunately, sometimes it actually could be. Now was not one of those times, but he was in no mood to play games with her.

"I can guess. You were testing it on me to make sure if I liked it, and if I did not you would not give it to Raito-kun because surely he would not like it either." He said simply, knowing that there was a good ninety five percent chance that he was correct. If he knew her mindset as well as he liked to think he did, anyway. Of course, he knew it was correct he moment she bared her teeth at him in a plastic grin.

"Wait, Misa-Misa thought Ryuzaki-san likes really sweet things?" She giggled girlishly, and he finally looked at her. She clearly wanted his attention, and the sooner she left the sooner he could ask Watari to dispose of the damn magazine. He usually didn't read things like that, and now he remembered why he had never desired to read them to begin with. They were tabloid trash, overflowing with garbage.

"Misa-san is correct." He stated calmly, not adding anything else on to give her a reason as to why. He knew she wouldn't like it, that she would pry. She was strange, the way she stuck with him and Light even when they did not always pay her the attention she so clearly craved. But if he had learnt one thing about her in this amount of time, it had to be that she was a dreamer until she met them. She reached for the unobtainable. But now she acted like she would give it all up sometimes, just for their investigation. Just for Light. So because she was a dreamer, Misa Amane never gave up. Never. It was unwritten law.

"So, why don't you like Misa-Misa's cake?" She asked, looking confused. He stared in her eyes as she edged closer, sitting right in front of him now. She wanted to know? It seemed more like a demand when she was staring at him like that.

_Because it's like you._

"As I said, Misa-san. It's just too sweet." He lied. She smiled, showing all of her pearly white teeth. Straight and perfectly white, having never seen food with actual sugar going in her mouth a day in her life. He supposed it was natural.

That was the day he realised that although he told himself he disliked artificial things, he was lying to himself. Because try as he might, he still liked cake, candy, sweets and chocolate. Anything with sugar or sweeteners in, really. Food did taste good with fake sugars in it, especially the icing on strawberry shortcake. That tasted wonderful. Yes, sure he liked them a lot more than the normal person.

But more than a normal person worshipped the artificially sweet idol that she was; he had to admit one thing to himself. It would be silly of him to act like a sore loser. He was not normal anyway. Normal people were not as intelligent as him. So as much as geniuses like cake, he knows one thing he likes more than it. After all, geniuses know when they've been beaten.

More than the artificially sweet cake he liked, he simply _loved _her.

That artificially sweet star, Misa Amane.

He hated her for it, too.

* * *

Misa hated artificially sweet things.

"Light-kun loves Misa-Misa, right?" She asked slowly, leaning over his shoulder as he sat on the sofa to make sure that he was paying attention to her. She knew that always got his attention, because it distracted him. She was pretty sure he found it irritating, but that did not matter right now.

She asked him that one simple question, and seeing as he was a genius he should have been able to answer it perfectly capably. Without a moment of hesitation. He didn't let her down; looking straight up with those chocolate brown eyes into hers with the usual unfazed look he gave her whenever she asked a question that was something along the lines of that. He paused a moment, just to give her that smile. The one that usually made her feel like an idiot.

"Yes, of course." He replied, in the plain tone he always used. She frowned, her chest aching more than it should have been. Of course he'd say he loved her, he always did. Always when she asked, he said they would build their own world together. She would be the Goddess. She would be, and he would be the God. That was what he had told her. But if there was one thing she had grown to actually dislike about Light, it was his smile.

There were a lot of things Misa simply could not stand. Sweets, sugary and fattening. Artificially sweet, tasting better than they should do. The second was Ryuzaki's weight, because he said he lost it using his brain so much and she found it unnerving that he could eat so much and still not gain weight she liked to think that was an excuse. But the thing she could not stand, no, the thing she simply _hated _right at that moment was her precious Light-kun's smile.

When he smiled, something bad was going to happen. He smiled when he had wrote that message, the one that had sent shivers down her spine.

"_It's written amazingly well…but if you don't take out the part that says 'I don't care if you kill L__'…I'll die."_

Those had been Ryuzaki's exact words. She was still half-waiting for him to do just that, and although she couldn't bare the thought of what would happen when he did she had been waiting for Light-kun's words even more. The ones she'd dreamed he would eventually come in front of the world and say freely when he became a God, and she was beside him as the Goddess of the new world they would create together.

"_That's right, I am Kira."_

She relished the thought of those words coming from his lips. As long as he was not smiling when he said it, because then it would mean nothing to her any longer. Just as his promises had begun to show cracks, so had his mask. She had been around him too long, and she knew that even though she liked to think that she knew him better than anyone the chances were extremely high that she barely knew him at all.

Because just like the sweets she so despised, that smile was artificial. It was fake, a lie, telling her that everything was going to be ok; it was going to be fine when she was pretty sure it wouldn't be. But just for now, she could play pretend. She could play just like a little kid, telling herself that he got justice for her parents. That he did what Ryuzaki and no other detective had done, because they were nothing compared to him. He had given her justice.

"_You're playing a dangerous game, Misa. You might get killed. Do you realise that?"_

That was what Rem had told her, and she wanted to believe Light anyway because she loved him. But even as he looked away again, back to the newspaper he had been reading he was still smiling. Unlike Ryuzaki's smile when he was reading that article Matsuda had left lying around that was about her, the interview that she had done for that magazine. L had been frowning when he read it for some reason, though why she was not sure – but at least then she knew that he really did mean to frown, and that when he smiled he actually meant it.

Unlike Light, whose smiles were artificial, Ryuzaki had wonderful smiles. Wonderful, knowing, beautiful and truthful smiles. Even if he was a pervert.

His smiles were still better than Light's smiles.

A moment later, she hated herself for thinking that.

* * *

"Misa-Misa likes Ryuzaki-san's smiles."

She said it so calmly it made chills run down his spine. The raven-haired man on a permanent sugar rush looked at her, standing behind him with a vacant expression as she grinned at him happily. He couldn't help put grin back softly, even though he knew that he was about to ask something he would probably just get a displeasing answer for questioning to begin with.

"Not as much as Raito-kun's smiles though, am I correct?" He asked, and she frowned back at him. Did he say something wrong to her?

"No, Misa-Misa likes them far more than his." She replied in a mixture of bitterness and softness before realising what she had said and promptly clapping her hand over her mouth. His dark eyes were staring at her, and although she was far from blushing like she expected to she found herself humbled under his scorching gaze.

"Is something wrong with Raito-kun, Misa-san?" He looked perplexed, and to make him feel that way too was beyond the control of most humans. Bar Kira. Kira was an exception, but not an exceptional exception as he was pretty sure that he was a human. He was pretty sure he was Yagami Light, and Misa was the second Kira. It bothered him, that thought. He closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds to clear his head.

"No, Misa-Misa just made a oopsie." She breathed quietly, crossing her legs as she placed herself on the sofa across from him. By a oopsie, she meant a mistake. She did not expect him to know that though. It was better that she ignored what she had just said aloud, keep things as normal. It was better that way.

"I guess that I made a mistake too, Misa-san." He muttered, knowing that he had. She was a possible candidate for the second Kira. She was everything he didn't want her to be, and he found himself liking her all the more for it.

"Ryuzaki-san never makes mistakes. Just like Light-kun." She insisted, and he almost laughed. She was so wrong, and she didn't even know it. He smiled softly and crookedly at her, not mockingly or in pity but from sheer amusement.

"I do, because I already have." He grinned, and she didn't seem to sense the slight note of pain that crept out with his voice. She smiled back, unknowing and overly happy. Too optimistic, that smile. It was artificially sweet.

"If you don't mind me asking, Ryuzaki-san, what was it?" She murmured, obviously trying to be careful not to be too loud. She didn't want to startle him, or hurt him. Her intentions were clear, that she wanted to help him. But it was already too late. The words stuck on the edge of his tongue, not able to leave his lips.

"I became friends with Raito-kun, who might be Kira." He said simply, mouth wide and showing pearly white teeth in a fake smile.

_I was expecting something else, Ryuzaki-san._That was what she was thinking, it was clear. But what she was expecting to hear was something less scandalous than what he had actually wanted to tell her.

"Oh." She sighed, falling back into the seat. She had looked excited, but now it appeared her interest had been lost with an answer she clearly deemed silly. Yes, she had defiantly been expecting something else. Something had changed in her expression, too. She did not seem as happy about his smile as she had a few moments ago. Perhaps she knew it was artificially sweet, seeing as she had so much practice using the same smiles herself. She was right to expect something else, seeing as he had lied.

_There's a high chance that I could fall in love with you, Misa Amane._

That was when he realised that sometimes, artificial lies and smiles were better. But it was with a sickening feeling that he knew this - because it was already too late, and that high chance had become a chance of one hundred percent. He frowned, no longer upholding the artificially sweet smile.

_Misa Amane, I'm in love with you._

* * *

"Um, Ryuzaki-san?"

He opened one eye to see Misa hovering over him the day after his realisation, only to see her face hovering inches from his before she quickly pulled away. She was beaming happily, and something unnerved him about that smile. It wasn't like normal. It wasn't artificially sweet. It was completely natural. He stared a moment before snapping back to reality from his daydreams.

"Yes, Misa-san?" He asked, looking at the box in her hands. The card was slightly crumpled where her fingers had pushed down on the top of it so hard, and she seemed slightly nervous even with her natural smile.

"Misa-Misa bought you something." She grinned, and then handed the box to him. He looked at it a moment, his confusion evident. But he knew she was waiting, expectant of something. That something was clearly an action she wanted him to take, and that action was only partially obvious. Prising open the white lid, he looked at the item inside. He was stunned at what it was.

"Did you make this, Misa-Misa?" He asked her softly, looking at the item inside the box. She nodded, still beaming happily for a few seconds. His face crumpled, and with it when eh looked up he saw hers do the same.

"You don't like it, do you Ryuzaki-san? You said last time it was too sweet, but Misa-Misa tried her hardest! I'm sorry if you don't!" She gushed, and he looked at her blankly. What on Earth could have caused this sudden change of heart? She had always been more concerned about her precious Light-kun than anyone else he had ever seen her with, affectionate and caring for him. Calling he, Lawliet, a pervert. It made barely any sense at all.

"No, I'm just confused." He replied bluntly, staring once again at the object inside the box with wonder and amazement. She had said last time it was for Light, but now she had given one to him. Unless she cared about him, she would not give him food. Unless it was poisoned, but seeing as she was the most likely candidate for the second Kira she could kill him so much more easily using another method that didn't dirty her hands at all. Yes, it made no sense.

The girl he was in love with, the artificially sweet Misa Amane had just given him some strawberry shortcake. The same type of cake she had previously tested on him to give to her beloved, cold and uncaring boyfriend. Who didn't care about her at all. But he did. Lawliet cared about her a lot more than she probably knew.

But right then, there was nothing artificially sweet about her.

She was all innocence and smiles. He wanted to hate her, he really did. She was artificially sweet, something he hated about her. But now, when that artificial sweetness was gone, he couldn't stand it. She was someone else entirely, and it was unnerving. No, he did not like that at all. It was wrong.

She was supposed to love Light; he was supposed to watch from afar and not like her at all. Heck, if love was not only blind but deaf he would have chosen Light himself over her. As disturbing as the thought was, it was true. Sort of. Because he only wanted to hate her, and he knew that he couldn't hate her at all. It was so screwed up it almost made logical sense - that was, if he were living in a soap opera. But right now, he would have to do something foul. Swallow his pride, and eat a cake with barely any sugar in. The thought alone disturbed him.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he extended his shaking hand to close clammily around the white plastic utensil that was a fork that she had placed in the box with the cake. He stared at it a moment, trying to think of a way to get out of eating it. There just had to be a way, surely. If not, he could have to eat sugarless cake. Cake with no artificial sweeteners.

Like a digger in a minefield he carefully shoved the white plastic into the cake, mentally imagining sweat beading on his forehead and shining like the brightest stars glimmering in the darkest night from the strain. The piece eventually cake off on the fork, and he winced at the sound of the biscuit breaking away.

He lifted the fork to his mouth, letting the food hover for a moment before his mouth as he stared at the expectant star across from him. It looked like she was back to her normal mood. He smiled. She was no wearing her artificial sweetness now, but more of her snapping anger that she rarely showed.

"Well, what are you waiting for Ryuzaki-san?" She whined, leaning forward slightly and grinning even brighter than before. Then he saw it. The perfect solution. He would not have to eat cake with barely any sugar at all. The solution was almost perfect, infact.

"I want you to try some first, Misa-san." He stated, and she blinked before giving him an incredulous look. Models simply did not eat cake, it would make their figure 'go rounder and rounder until they became, God forbid, a size bigger than they believed they should be' as she had put it once before. Silly woman, this time she had to oblige. If not, his plan would be executed flawlessly.

"Misa-Misa has told you before, Ryuzaki-san! No cake! It's bad for Misa-Misa's figure!" She whined, and he looked at her with a feigned foolish frown. She could do with putting on some weight, he really didn't understand it.

"But Misa-san, surely one bite won't make a difference?" He mentally grinned as she whined at his words, clearly protesting at the idea of even gaining that amount of weight. Too many calories, he guessed. He pushed the shortcake off the fork, stabbing the strawberry viciously.

"Ryuzaki-san, don't be mean to Misa-Misa! You know she likes strawberries!" She cried, her eyes pleading. Unfortunately for her, it was not working in the slightest. His smile became a devious smirk as he promptly popped the tip of the strawberry in his mouth and bit it off. She looked like she wanted to kill him. It was her own fault, really. Buying him a cake with a strawberry on.

"No, I really don't. I thought you just liked strawberry lip gloss like I saw you advertise on the television. Did you really want this or something, Misa-san?" He beamed positively as he popped it into his mouth entirely. Fire burned in her eyes. He didn't even really like strawberries all that much, but it seemed to provoke her enough to make her want to attempt his murder with her bare hands. Once again, her own fault he reminded himself.

"Yes, Misa-Misa loves strawberries." She sulked, eyes scrutinizing him angrily as she glared at him. He could tell what she was thinking. _How dare he provoke her like that, he done it on purpose. How mean! _He almost chuckled at the ideas of her thoughts, but somehow managed to contain himself.

Leaning forward on the balls of his feet, he yanked her wrist so she fell forward. Her eyes stared up at him, visibly wondering what he was doing. He looked down at her, hand still grasping her wrist as soft as he could manage. Her wrists were small compared to his; too much force would harm her. Even though, the look on her face was amusing.

"Tell me, Misa, how much do you love the taste of the strawberries?" He asked, and she squeaked, clearly not knowing what to say when he whispered that in her ear. His hot breath was fanning her neck uncomfortably, that he knew.

Pulling away once more, he leant forward ever so slightly until his lips touched hers lightly. She froze in his grasp, eyes wide in shock. He pressed even further, avoiding laughing at her stupefied expression as he slid his tongue into her mouth.

What he did not expect was for her to give up, kissing him back heatedly and shoving him to the floor. It appeared she did not like to be toyed with. Not at all. This lasted for a few minutes before she quickly pulled away, looking towards the camera with a small smirk of her own. The ones in his room didn't work, so she might as well take advantage of the situation at hand. She grinned evilly, the leant forward to whisper back to him.

"Misa-Misa doesn't just _like_ the taste. Misa-Misa _loves_ the taste."

L had to agree; he now liked the taste of strawberries very much as well. But not as much as one thing, one thing that he still wanted to hate although he simply could not bring himself too. It was a taste he now would choose over strawberries any day.

He preferred the way she tasted.

_Artificially sweet._

* * *

So, it's finally done. Fluffy and odd for me, right? Usually my work is so much more angsty. I'm quite shocked at myself. But hey, this is my first piece in the Death Note fandom. Maybe it's time I expanded my choices, although fluff will never be my favourite type of writing.

I hope you like this, **thunder sister**. But you still have every right to want me dead for not putting this up for so long! Sorry, my computer was not working until yesterday night for uploading documents, for some reason.

Anyway. Reviews are loved. :)


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